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Shifty Rio pushes Kiwi Parasailors back to 6th but points are close

16

September

2016

by Jodie Bakewell-White

Rio challenged the kiwi Sonar Parasailing crew currently competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games today with tricky, shifty conditions on the sailing course positioned under the spectacular Sugarloaf.

Dodson, May and Sharp are back to 6th place at the end of day four with three races left to sail over the coming two days of the regatta.

Sailing in very shifty 10-14 knot breeze today on the Sugarloaf course proved tricky for the New Zealand team and they finished 10th in race seven, which they discard as their poorest result, and 8th in race eight.

“It was a hard day. We were in so close to the beach, very, very shifty,” said skipper Richard Dodson after racing. “So for us, it wasn’t good.”

“A hard day, quite windy, but shifty - very shifty. Very difficult.”

Asked about their race starts Dodson said, “The first start was not so good, but the second start was good, but we went the wrong way. A shift favoured the guys near the beach and they did well. So the starts didn’t really matter, we just went the wrong way.”

Now lying 6th in the overall standings, but close on points with those ahead, tomorrow becomes crucial for the kiwis. Just two points separate the kiwis from 3rd place.

“Tomorrow obviously we’ve got to think about going well and enjoy it, because it’s very difficult out there,” said Dodson.

“We want to go very well, we want a good positions in all three [remaining races]. We just want three good solid results.”

Speaking about what will be the key to success in the coming races Dodson said, “Read the shifts, you can work on speed, but it’s all about the shifts – big shifts.”

“Well our speed is alright, our speed is pretty good. It depends how breezy it is tomorrow. We go better in the moderate to light – moderate breeze is our best breeze but we haven’t got it at the moment and it’s very hard to make it go fast.”

The Australians are the stand-out crew and are still in first place with an 11 point lead over USA.